Fire Dancer
by The Eeveelution Kid
Summary: Rokon has moved around a lot, and hasn't always been a happy kid. His new school on the West Coast makes it unlivable, or at least for the first few minutes. A chain of events spur from nowhere, and leave Rokon, and his two new friends with an incredible discovery about themselves, the world, and what they should do with it. It will be on a string after all.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: So, here we go with a new story, again. I have been trying to get a grasp on this one for well over a year, so I'm proud that I finally put this sad little chapter together. I'm not sure how long I want this to be, but I don't think it will be one of my regular 10 chapter stories, since I'm actually putting a deal of planning into this. So, for anybody reading, please enjoy. Here are a few heads up to Fire Dancer.

First of all, this story will be rated M, for adult situation, language, explicit sexual content, (Possibly)incest, violence, use of alcohol and/or drugs.  
You have been warned.

Next, since I may only put two categories on the story, I do believe I have chosen the following.  
Adventure  
Humor  
Suspense  
Hurt/Comfort  
Romance  
Family/Friendship

Lastly, I can only place four characters, so here the main six.  
Vulpix  
Glaceon  
Leafeon  
Sandshrew  
Azurill  
Umbreon

Now without further adieu, I bring to you Fire Dancer.

* * *

My name is Rokon Summers. I was born in Miami, Florida, but we've moved around so much; I've never been able to like one place enough to call it a hometown. The longest I've lived anywhere was around four years, San Antonio, Texas. Where was it now? San Diego, California if I wasn't mistaken. I detested the idea of it. Stoners, skaters, and surfers, everywhere. At least that's what I've heard. I'm moving there with my two older twin brothers, Kyukon, and Gray. They're more or less everything I could ask for. Everything's got its upsides and downsides, right?

As we pulled into the neighborhood we'd be living in, I couldn't help but feel that horrible feeling of déjà vu. The house was large, and looked as generic as all the houses around it. Two stories, and a drab gray color, a large wooden door, and a garage next to it, and the driveway to get there. Yup, almost just like the last place.

"Don't you two ever get tired of moving?" I asked from the back seat. Gray turned around to me, and smiled softly.

"You ask this every time Rokon, but yeah, I do." He replied, his eyes aimed down. "At this point, we could open up a business to move for people."

"Yeah, and there goes another person I don't see enough." I muttered in reply, looking down at my folded hands in my lap. "Rokon," called Kyukon, looking at me through the rearview from his spot in the driver's seat.

"I know you're not eye to eye on terms with mom, or dad, but just look on the bright side of this." I mimicked his next words perfectly.

"New neighbors, new school, new people." We said in unison.

"Quit doing that!" Kyukon snapped. I smiled at him wryly. His glare used to be enough to set me straight, but it lost its intimidating nature a while back. Even he could see it no longer had an effect on me. Suddenly, the car pulled to a halt, and we were in the driveway.

"New home, sweet home." Gray said, smiling broadly. We all chuckled, and stepped from the car, each door closing in a swift symphony. Our minivan was packed and loaded with the possessions we liked to carry with us; several bungee cords tied three mattresses and a decent sized sofa on top of them, and our boxes of personal shit. We scribbled our names on them…Well, scorched our names on them, and held them in the back. The movers would bring the rest.

"So," Kyukon began, grinning. "Think you'll finally get a girlfriend Ro?" he asked, looking over to me, oh his grin was making him look like an idiot.

"I don't know," I responded, grinning back at him. "Think you'll quit setting shit on fire whenever you break wind?" I asked. He grumbled, and wandered to the front door. Gray and I exchanged humorous looks. Too bad it was true. Even when I was into them, I never had much luck with girls. And yes, if Kyukon farted, even a little bit, there would be a spear of flame rocketing out of his ass. It was a medical thing, but we still pissed ourselves laughing whenever he did. Our mother had never thought it was funny, so he used to do it intentionally.

Swinging the door open, Kyukon stepped inside, and so did I, following Gray shortly after.

Oh! One thing I never did tell you all. If you didn't guess from my name, we're all from the vulpine line. I'm a vulpix, and Kyukon and Gray are ninetales. Gray has a medical thing too, where his pelt is silver, and the ends of his tails are blue. He got teased for it, and as a result, he became the best battler wherever we went.

"Looks like the movers beat us." I said, looking around at the house. Sure enough, damn near all of our stuff was in there.

"I'll get the boxes." Kyukon murmured, stepping back outside. Gray stepped next to me, and swiftly hugged me. He knew I hated it. I squirmed from his grip, and elbowed him in the side. Wheezing, he chuckled, and eyed me closely.

"So," he began, taking on a smile identical to Kyukon's. "Brother's still giving you shit about the ladies; when are you going to tell him?" he asked.

"I think I'll surprise him." I said, chuckling. "Maybe one day at dinner, I'll just blurt it out, or bring a guy home, and see him shit his pants." I replied. Gray ruffled my hair, and Kyukon came back into the house, holding the box I scorched my name into.

"Upstairs." He said, abruptly forcing it into my arms. I stumbled, and gripped it, my arms underneath it, determined not to drop it. Carefully, I made my way up the stairs (After finding them), the box teetering in my arms. As I struggled to carry it, I swore my eyes would bulge from my head. Finally getting it to the top, I found the door labeled with my name, and after a few minutes of fumbling with the doorknob, I made my way inside.

The movers were getting good; my room was laid out just the same as last time. I set the box down next to my bed, and stretched my arms out, then heading back downstairs. "Hey fellas," I said, walking back into the living room. As soon as I laid my eyes on the doorway, I stopped in my tracks.

"Rokon," said a smooth, soothing voice. In the doorway, was another ninetales. Only difference is this one was forty, and a woman, my mother. "So good to see you again baby; how's my youngest feeling today?" she asked. I was stunned. I hate to say it, but I hated this woman.

"Kaya," I replied bitterly. "Your youngest was feeling all fine and dandy. Then guess what happened?"

"Now, that's no way to speak to mommy, is it? What did we talk about last?"

"What we talked about last? Oh, I don't know, how you were moving to Cairo because you couldn't stand dad, around five years ago?" I replied. She mocked a pained expression. "And then how you disappeared a day later; without even taking your luggage."

"Oh, sweetie." She said, giggling. "Honshu is lovely this time of year." I snapped.

"W-where are Grey and Kyukon?" I snapped, anger building in me.

"They're right behind me hon, why don't-"

"Why don't you leave us be?" I hissed at her. This time, she really did look hurt, if even only for a second. She quickly put back on that mocking sweet smile.

"O-of course dear, I'll be on my way." She scurried away from the door, and Grey and Kyukon stepped in. We all exchanged glances, and silently, Grey shut the door behind him. I sighed, and turned away from them. Questions floated in my head, but I preferred them unanswered.

"Can't believe how…fake she acted." Grey said, breaking the silence.

"Like she really, actually cared." Kyukon added.

"Like we really wanted her back in our lives." I concluded, the anger and darkness curdling inside. It was quite a bit of hate for someone my age, but what else could I feel towards her? Maybe I'll tell that story later. "I think I'm going to head to bed guys, long day tomorrow; right?" I asked, a meek smile curling the edges of my lips.

"Rokon, it's only 7:40." Gray said, tapping his timepiece.

"Just tired." I called as I scurried up the steps to my room, and ran inside, not so gently closing the door behind me. My mattress wasn't in there yet, so I curled up on top of the thing that holds up that mattress; and no, I don't mean the frame. I closed my eyes, and although it was early, I fell asleep swiftly.

* * *

The next morning, I was shoved out of the house, with my pack and a route to school. I walked there, and it was for the most part uneventful. Well, that is until around the last ten minutes of the walk, I was graced with company. A glaceon girl began walking beside me, smiling broadly. It was silent for a little bit, but then she spoke.

"Where're you headed?" she asked.

"I'm on my way to Kori high." I replied, glancing down at the paper in my hand to make sure I got the name right.

"It's not going to be easy for someone like you there."

"Well what makes you say that?" I asked, concern welling up in my head.

"There's only two other people at that school who aren't ice types; and one of them is the janitor." She replied, as if it were something she said every day.

"I…" I began, dumbfounded. Holy shit. I might be the only fire type in a school full of ice types. Great as that might sound; I'm not good in battles.

"W-well who's the other?" I stammered. The glaceon got a hazy look over her face, like she just got injected with something to numb her at the dentist.

"Well," she said, her cheeks flushing as she thought. "There's this really cute umbreon guy, but he's kind of anti-social. He really only ever talks with the teachers, and every now and then he'll say hi." She finished, grinning as if she had just found the fountain of youth. Jeez, this chick was a fan girl. "So, what's your name vulpix?"

"Rokon," I said, turning my gaze straight ahead as the school came into sight around a corner.

"Chione," she replied. "Like the Greek goddess." She added.

"Yeah, yeah, daughter of Boreas." I said nonchalantly. "I wonder, if you were a boy, would they have named you Odysseus? You know, for breaking through the Tro-"

"Shut it Rokon." She growled. I grinned, and slung my backpack over both shoulders. Looking over the front of the campus, I automatically saw that Chione was right when she said it was just ice types. Not necessarily pure ice types, but all ice types nonetheless.

Sneasel, glaceon, frosslass, lapras, abomasnow, just name it. I hardly felt in place here. I could have told you that it was going to be a really awkward day. I felt my pace come to a drag, and Chione stopped once she realized I was no longer side by side with her.

"What's the matter?" She asked.

"What's the matter? Do you have any idea how weird I feel right now?"

"If you're talking about the boner, no, no I don't." she replied, then kept walking. I looked down, and saw that she was indeed correct. I fidgeted with my pants, and kicked my leg out a few times until it was for the most part invisible. I began walking again, and aimed my eyes downward, so as to avoid any unwanted or rude looks from people.

The second I was on campus, I felt a shiver crawl up my spine. Was this the cold? I willed my body to become warmer, and soon, my body emitted smoky wisps against the cold air, leaving a faint trail wherever I walked. I don't like indoor schools. Too…confined. And adding to the fact that it felt like a freezer at Costco, I wasn't holding up too well.

I heard murmurs, indistinct conversation, I saw fingers pointing, and people gasping. A new student isn't anything special. But then again, this new student looks as dangerous as a match in a barrel full of gunpowder. I clutched my schedule in my hand, and looked down at my first class. I sighed, and wheeled around. I had already passed it.

As I made my way down the hall, in the opposite direction, I was tapped on the shoulder. Half-expecting a bully to be there, I turned around slowly. Sure enough. An abomasow, almost twice my size towered over me. I sighed, and tucked my schedule in my pocket, after folding it neatly.

"Welcome to Kori," he said, his voice thick with false enthusiasm. "I'm here to make sure that you get a nice proper welcome." He smirked down at me. My palms began to itch, at the desire of being set aflame. I rubbed them together to rid the itching, still looking up at him.

"What does this marvelous welcome ensue?" I asked. Truthfully, I was intimidated, but this guy was literally playing with fire.

"Well, for you, a rare specimen," he began, adding emphasis on his last two words. "You have a choice; toilet, locker, or flagpole?"

"Do you think you can figure out how to work any of those?" I asked sarcastically. _Goddammit. Will I ever think before I say something? Of course not, I'm Rokon!_ Instinctively, I ducked, narrowly avoiding a swing of his massive arm. I whirled around, and began sprinting away. He ran after me, his footsteps thudding. I sped away, and he was practically jogging.

Soon enough, he was far behind, and I made a turn down the hall. I made a few more, and eventually, I found myself _behind_ him, and I realized I made a full circle. Giggling, I slowly moved the other way. The bell rang loudly, and I peeked back at my schedule, and found my first class. It was going to be strange. Everybody knew each other, and who did I know? Chione.

Great move getting me here in the end of January. I stepped inside, and saw I was the last one in. There were several empty seats, and nobody next to them looked friendly. All the friendly people were with all the other friendly people. The teacher glanced at me, and returned his gaze to his desk. His eyes widened, and he looked at me again.

"O-oh!" he exclaimed. "You must be Rokon!" he said. He pronounced my name, like 'rock-on'.

"Rokon," I corrected, giving him the proper enunciation.

"Right, right," he said as if venting the fact that he didn't care. "Why don't you take the chair between Sven and Sleet?" he said, pointing to an empty chair. I turned my head to face the class, and I was greeted with a half caring wave from an umbreon, and an enthusiastic one from a frosslass.

I quietly made my way to the classroom, and took my seat between the two. Immediately, the frosslass began bombarding me with questions. I didn't answer them, but then again, anything is better than history at seven in the morning.

Leaving the classroom, there was a hand on my shoulder again. Expecting another moron, I turned around. Nope, it was Sven. _Shit, Chione was right. He is pretty cute._ I thought. My face burned slightly.

"It's good to know I'm not the only other guy here, who's not ice type." He said, grinning. I smiled meekly back.

"Y-yeah…But most of the students look at me like they want to take my head off." I responded, pulling my schedule from my pocket. Sven peered over at it, and chuckled.

"Looks like your next class is with me too, come on." He said, pushing me forward, presumably in the direction of the class.

The same kinds of thing went on for the rest of the day, give or take a few events. When the final bell rung, I rejoiced, and dashed for the front door. Much to several people's surprises, I was the first one out of the door. I was greeted with a warm breeze, and I kept going, until I was standing on the sidewalk, letting the heat run back into by body.

A few minutes had passed, and I was surprised with a simultaneous call of my name. Whirling around, I was face to face with my new couple of friends.

"Oh, heya." I said, grinning.

"It feels good to be out of there, doesn't it?" Sven asked.

"I prefer the cold." Chione said, shrugging it off. We both looked at her.

"If you'd have chosen leafeon, I don't think you'd be saying that." The umbreon answered. We chuckled at his response. Chione murmured something lower than we could here, and looked up.

"So, you're walking back too?" she asked, looking at Sven. He nodded.

"Yeah, I live over in the military housing." He responded, pointing in its general direction.

"Rokon, didn't you come out of the military housing this morning?" Chione asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, I just moved here. It's always kind of an adventure moving, but even that gets old." I said, smiling.

"Tell me about it," Sven sighed. "It really does make up the reason I don't talk with people much, I hate getting attached."

"Well, we must be special." Chione said, giggling quietly.

"Sure you are. You get a helmet and everything." He said, looking down both sides of the street. Chione's smile fell, and we laughed at her. We waved goodbyes, and began our walks home. I actually saw Sven walking into his house from mine, so, yup, now I know where he lives.

When I was back home, I was greeted by my brothers, one of which was cleaning up a mess in the kitchen, the other doing homework.

"Hey, Rokon." Kyukon called from the kitchen.

"Good day?" Grey asked from the table. I smiled, and nodded to Grey.

"Oh yeah, today was a whole lot of fun." I said, chuckling.

"Make any new friends, or do I need to go down to the school again?" Kyukon asked. I swear, if I could see through walls, he'd either be stifling his laughs, or be dead serious at the moment. He did it once. When I was six, he ran down to the school, and shouted at the other kids, asking why they weren't being nice to me. Sheesh.

"No, no, I got friends." I replied, heading upstairs, my feet thumping on each stair. When I got to my room, I found that during the day, they must have moved something . Well, Grey anyway. Kyukon got held back a couple times, so he's still a senior. He got into a different school; who knows why, and there's one less asset that I have.

My little television, my mattress, and my CD player had all been moved into my room. Yippee. Without any homework to burden me tonight, I leaped on my bed, and flipped the TV on. Urk, infomercials. I began to flips through the channels, looking for anything worthwhile.

_-All new and improved,-  
Click  
-sale of the year,-  
Click  
-human menace-  
Click  
-and now the weather,-_

I froze. Did I hear that right? Hastily, I flipped back a channel, and began to listen intently, and I swore I heard them say human.

_"Reports of human sightings in the eastern US coast, from New York to Fort Lauderdale. We believe that these creatures hold a hostile intent towards our kind; that is if they exist."_

I gawked at the TV, and continued to listen. I rummaged through my box of possessions, and grabbed my laptop. Sitting cross legged, I placed it in my lap, and switched it on. My heart raced with anticipation as I waited for it to boot up.

The second it was in running condition, I opened up a Word document, and labeled it Humans. Soon, Chrome followed it, and I began research. Soon, I had about a page of notes about the human race. Interesting. As I snooped around the pages, I had found much more than I had bargained for. Ferals.

I saw old pictures, paintings, drawings, and even descriptions of us pokemon, which had once been feral. We had all been feral at some point. I studied pictures of humans, which look really weird by the way, and the feral pokemon, hoping to find something. Judging from the dates on the pictures, they were _centuries_ old, and went extinct around the same time. And here, I always thought humans were just some myth. I did manage to get one more thing that would really catch anyone's eye.

Cross breeding.

* * *

The following morning, I ran into Sven on the way to school. I guess he took a different path this morning. His attire was all black, every last bit of it and it really creeped me out. Especially when he'd slip into the shadows, if just for a short time. He'd be invisible, and it was creepy, and annoying. We had a casual talk on the way, and then Chione tagged along. I had a feeling these guys were going to be my only friends for a while.

At lunch, we sat outside on the steps leading up to the school. It was nice to get outside. As soon as the bell had rung, Sven and I scurried from class.

"So," Chione said, taking a bite of her sandwhich, _right_ before talking. Man that was annoying. "Did you guys see the news yesterday?"

"The one about the humans on the east coast?" I asked. I began chugging the spicy soup from my thermos and had finished by the time Sven got his turn to talk.

"Humans? Aren't they a myth?" he asked, an eyebrow cocked in doubt. I shook my head at him.

"No, we just thought they were extinct, until now." I replied. "They date back to the mid 2900's." Sven and Chione exchanged glances.

"Yeah, but we live in the 3600s, remember?" she asked. "So unless they got a time machine, or some freaky underground base, it's just someone looking for a reason to get on TV."

"My money's on the time machine." Sven said. We laughed.

"Well, living underground is way more believable." I responded.

"What about the digletts and drilburs and stuff?" Chione asked. "Wouldn't they have found it?" I shrugged. It was beyond all of us, far, far beyond.

The rest of the day had flown by, taking again its boring, but speedy course. I wish I could say that something cool happened in class or even something good as the teacher lost his eyebrows when he dumped a spoonful of potassium in the water. No, there was nothing really worth my while, that is, until I found myself at home yet again. There were voices, and new laughter, of people I had not ever heard before.

I carefully opened the door, and held my hand behind by back, concealing the flickering flames which were ready to attack. Instead of finding hostility, I was greeted with a brief image of my brothers sitting next to each other, smiling and laughing as if they had just come back from Nimbasa City. Grey's eyes darted in my direction, and he lit up once he saw me. _Shit._

"Hey, c'mere." He said, waving me over. Extinguishing the flame behind my back, I made my way over to him, and then looked across from where he was sitting. I saw an eevee woman, who gave a shy wave, and an espeon woman, who did the same, except brighter. I managed a meek wave back, and Grey pat me on the back heartily.

"I guess you're the Rokon?" the espeon asked with a sweet smile. I nodded, loosening further. Now, why couldn't this woman have been my mother? She was already super nice. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She said, with a slight bow. The eevee quickly mimicked her motion. "And if you're wondering," she said, as if reading my mind, and then nudging the eevee. "Cotton here is deaf. Oh! Almost forgot! My name's Helia!" she said excitedly. I fought back a giggle.

"The pleasure is mine." I said somewhat awkwardly.

"Go to your room Rokon," Kyukon said, grinning like there was no tomorrow. I turned my head to him. "You really don't want to hear what we were talking about." I looked over at Grey. He nodded. A quick glance at Helia and Cotton, and they shrugged at me. I thought for a second, and obeyed Kyukon's words, making my way up the steps, and forcing my way into my room, probably for the night.

I picked up my laptop once I was on my bed, and began to sift through the folders upon folders of documents, until I found the one I was looking for. 'Friends list'. Looking down the sadly short list of people I had befriended. A whopping nine names were there.

But I gleefully added two more.


	2. Chapter 2

Well my peeps, I'm back with another chapter of Fire Dancer. I hope y'all enjoy, so don't be like _I'm gonna flame you. _If you do, I'm just gonna make s'mores. Or, I could get Rokon to make some.

Rokon: No. Shut up and do the story.

* * *

The following morning, I was proud to declare the day a Friday. I rushed out of the house with little more than a word to my brother's and found myself walking speedily to school. Some part of me was craving the satisfaction of having the weekend, and wanted the moment where the final bell rang; releasing me for the weekend was rung at last.

I had no idea how fast I was going until I heard the sound of pounding sneakers against the sidewalk. Looking over my shoulder, Sven was jogging to catch up to me. I chuckled as he stopped aside me, panting. "Now what are you…in the hurry…for?" he asked me in between heavy breaths. I smiled sheepishly, and rubbed the back of my head.

"It's nothing," I replied nonchalantly. "I just…I dunno, wanted to get to school…?" I tried. Sven grinned, and we began to walk.

"You just want to get the day out of the way?" he asked. I nodded. "You could just play hooky." He added, almost too calmly. My head snapped in his direction. "Don't act like you've never." He said, wagging a finger at me. I smacked the back of his palm.

"I haven't." I replied indignantly. Oh, how they were lies. I had ditched plenty, and Grey would always have my hide for it. It was easy to say I was closer to him than Kyukon. They had once been identical in nearly every way. Then, mom moved away, and dad was deployed, then that left us on our own. Kyukon had taken charge, and he grew up way too fast, while Grey seemed to slow in maturity, and while he retained his childlike disposition, he was way more likely to hit me than Kyukon.

"Please, that look on your face smells it all. I can smell the lies like…" he stopped, and sniffed the air. He turned his head to me, and sniffed again. "Is that cinnamon?" he teased. My cheeks flushed moderately, and I looked away dejectedly.

"I like cinnamon." I muttered, catching a quick whiff of the sharp spicy smell. "It's nice."

"Anyway," he said, drawing my eyes back. "I think I'll take a day off if you do. Lord knows I could use a vacation. That and I don't feel like spending my day cooped up in Yuki's class." He added, smirking. I laughed quietly. Oh, Mrs. Yuki was the Ironclad Bitch if I ever met one.

"So, you boys are gonna be the bad boys today?" said a voice. Sven and I jumped. We both turned around, and found ourselves in the presence of Chione, who was beaming brightly, looking between the two of us. "Hope you don't mind if I join, I could use a day at the sand."

"Good morning to you too." I said sarcastically.

"I didn't say good morning, Rokon." She replied, as if she didn't catch my tone. Sven and I exchanged humorous glances.

"Well, if it's the beach you want, I got no qualms, except the fact that I don't have a swimsuit." Sven said. Chione looked at me, and I shook my head. I didn't really like water, so I never saw the purpose in owning one.

"Well, we'll stop and get you guys a pair." She said. Instead of going the usual left we took to Kori, we went straight ahead, until the beach was in sight.

The air was alive with scents and smells, salt, and the crashing of waves, exhaust from passing cars, and the cries of the wingull who bravely flew in this hot weather. I personally liked it, although Chione wasn't holding up to well.

"So, you guys know your way around, right? Where's the nearest store for this crap?" I asked, looking between the two. Chione tiredly pointed to our left- the shop right next to us. I turned my head, and found my face not six inches from a poster advertising beach clothes. I sighed, keeping myself from facepalming, and strolled inside. The cold air of the shop hit me like a ton of bricks. Hot to cold was NOT OK. We soon were out of the shops, and in one hand, I had a plastic bag to hold my normal clothes, while the new pair of trunks held loosely and comfortably. They were stitched with the patterns of a flame, suiting for me, although Chione insisted that I didn't even try.

"Hey, Rokon." Sven said, drawing my attention to him. My head swiveled in his direction. "Want to race to the sand?" he asked, already in a running position. I smirked, and matched it. Chione rolled her eyes.

"Boys." She murmured.

"Bring it." I said confidently. We looked straight ahead, and Chione began the countdown for the both of us.

"Three….two….one…."

No sooner than the last word had left her lips, Sven was off, in an impressive blur of speed. I took off after him, and he already had a good twenty yards over me. He looked back, and gave me an arrogant smile. From the way his body was moving, I could see that he was sprinting with all his might. I grinned, and began to sprint as well. I shot down the street, passing Sven in a split second. I wasn't good at fighting no, but I was a fantastic runner. I made it to the sand, and stopped, or at least tried to. The speed from my running carried me through the sand, even though my legs were no longer moving. The skid marks –quit laughing- were somewhat like a scar in the earth once something- say a plane- would crash into it. My feet caught hold of something, and as if it was a fulcrum, my speed was ended, and I was thrown forward, to skid and tumble through the sand. I laid there. Hate to admit it, but it kind of hurt. Especially on my feet; I think that I hit a stone or something with it. About twenty seconds later, I heard the pound of footsteps behind me. I propped myself up on my knees facing away from the waves.

"For the love of god Rokon..." he panted, gasping for air. I wasn't even breathing hard. "How can you…how can…you run…like that…?" he asked, taking time to swallow massive breaths of air. I shrugged.

"Practice?" I guessed. I shrugged again, and lifted up the bottom of my shirt, sliding it up and off. I looked around for my plastic bag. "Um…"

"Looking for this Ro?" he asked holding up the bag. I smiled, and tossed my shirt inside the bag, very much to Sven's annoyance. I stood up, and let the sensation of the sun on my back and the wind run through my fur energize me.

"You gonna get in the water?" I asked, eyeing the repetitive crashing of the waves. Sven shook his head.

"No, too cold for me. I spend all my time in that school- so I tend to avoid the cold as much as I can." He replied, smiling meekly at me. I smiled back, and Chione stepped between us. She looked at me, then down at my bare torso, up at me again, and winked, then looked over at Sven.

"Take your shirt off." She said casually. "It's hot today, don't you think?" Sven and I exchanged humored glances again. He shrugged, and removed his shirt, placing it on Chione's head so as to blot her vision. She grumbled, and I took a quick peek, which became a stare at Sven. He was toned. Arms, legs, chest, waist, every part of him. I made a silent prayer that Sven wasn't straight, and judging from the look on Chione's face once she removed his shirt, she was thinking the exact opposite.

I resisted a questionable urge to reach over and rub his abs. What the actual fuck Rokon?

Sven and I later watched from the shore as Chione messed around and played in the water. It varied from running in the waves, to knocking people over, to making little chunks of ice rush out with a new breaking wave and hit unsuspecting surfers and such. She was a cruel person- we could tell that just from looking at the waves. We sat in silence for a good portion of the time, until the umbreon broke the silence with his smooth voice. "You know what's real funny Rokon?" he asked, still looking straight ahead.

"What's that?" I asked in reply.

"Before you along, I was terrible at making friends. I was socially awkward, and then you popped up; then it was like I had been making friends my entire life." he said quietly.

"It's hard to imagine you as…" I trailed off.

"Dejected? Reclusive? Awkward?" he suggested.

"Quiet." I corrected, looking over at him. He looked back at me, and his face was warped with confusion.

"I…beg your pardon?" he said, frowning.

"Quiet." I repeated. "If you have an opportunity to talk, you will." I chuckled, and my tails fluttered, two of which rubbed my forearms.

"I can be quiet!" he protested.

"The hell you can Sven." I said, grinning. "The odds of you being quiet are the odds of Chione running over here with a slab of gold."

"You never know what's in the water." He grumbled, flicking some sand at me. I giggled, and flung some back. Let me tell you, this got out of hand VERY quickly. A few grains turned into a small handful, turned into a large handful, turned into wrestling. We rolled around the sand, grunting and trying to pin the other against the scorching sand. Needless to say, he was successful in the endeavor, pinning me to the sand my shoulders. I squirmed slightly, and got more comfortable in the sand.

"Guess what Sven?" I said, grinning. He grunted in reply, out of breath. "I can see us in this position, under very different circumstances." His face went from aggressive to slightly shocked. Looking down, he could easily see the suggestiveness of the position we were in. I was laid flat on my back, while he was hunched over me like a predator. He scrambled off of me, and he wore an annoyed expression.

"In your dreams Rokon." He muttered. I winked at him.

"The wet ones."

"What the hell are you two going on about?" Chione said, now next to the both of us. We jumped. Goddamn, was she part ninja or something?

"Nothing." Sven said quickly. Chione crouched to our level, still dripping wet with sea water.

"Right, because you're not blushing or anything." She replied. I looked back over at Sven, who looked away from the both of us. "Anyway, check out what I found in the mud!" she exclaimed. We looked at the contents of her hands.

A slab of gold. It was about a foot long in each direction, circular, and rounded on both sides, like a discus. At the top, a thin icy blue line glowed, as if recognizing Chione's touch. It was in the shape of an arrow, kind of like those shields from that really old Sparta movie. What was it called…? Something to do with a number. Anyway, it was a stark light blue, which emitted a visible glow, even in the light of day. "Lemme see." I said, reaching out for it. As it came into contact with my fingers, a warm feeling washed over me. Warmer than normal it was.

A second arrow appeared opposite the blue one, although this one was reddish brown, like the color of my hair. It glowed equal to the blue line. We all stared at it in awe, then Chione and I held it out to Sven. "We don't know what that is!" he yelped, backing away from it.

"Just touch it." Chione said. I snickered. "You know you want to see if a black line pops up too."

Nodding, Sven reached out, and the process was repeated, and a black glow came from a third line, which was adjacent to mine. "...Say nothing." Sven grumbled.

"What do you think it is?" I asked, watching the lights glow, still, filling me with that unnatural, although welcoming warmth.

"Hell if I know...but I don't think it does this for just anybody- the glowy thing I mean." Chione said. " I mean, there's finite space on it, so there's probably other people that need to poke at it."

"And then what?" Sven asked. "We have a glowing chunk of gold, but what does it do?"

"Think it might be related to the thing with the humans?" I asked, seizing it from Chione's hand to examine it all over.

"Hey!" she protested, although I ignored her. I twirled it in my paws. It was surprisingly light, no heavier than 3 pounds or so. I rapped it with my knuckles experimentally. It was solid, and it was hard. I tried bending it, chewing on it like regular gold, which grossed out both Chione and Sven.

"That was in the ocean..." Sven groaned.

"Seriously, don't put that in your mouth." the glaceon added.

"We might have to go." I said quietly. The disk was heating up in my hands, quickly becoming hotter, even a bit much for me. "It's starting to burn." I added. The two shook their heads, and looked at each other, then at me.

"So, why do we have to go?" Chione asked. Sven and I both stared at her. It may have been idiocracy, or lack of common sense that plagued her, but it was pretty obvious.

"A, we don't know what's about to happen, B, this is making a scene, C, thieves like gold, and guess what this is?" Sven snapped at her.

"It's not making a scene..." Chione murmured. I rolled my eyes, and grabbed my backpack which was lying in the sand. I crammed the golden disk inside after wrapping it in my shirt, and slung it over my back.

"I agree than we go. This can't be all that great." I said. "And we should keep this to ourselves; 'till we can find someone we can trust to find this out."

We gathered our things, and left the beach. We took a long walk out of the neighborhood, and eventually, we were back around the familiar part of town. Hell, I still had a lot of places to learn. Sven and Chione were still residents, so they knew their way around way better than I did.

I couldn't go home, because Kyukon and Gray were still at home. They didn't leave until later in the day. We settled to go to Chione's house. It was a cavernous and well furnished house, easily two or three times the size of mine.

In simple terms, her house was fucking huge.

We changed back into regular clothes, although the scent of the ocean still lingered on us. Once we were inside, Sven and I immediately began to gawk at the inside. You never would've guessed with how she looked, or acted, but damn, she was minted.

When she turned to see us looking at every little overpriced knick knack on display, she snapped at us to focus on the problem at hand. Personally, I figured she had a good idea with trying to figure out what it was, but I was a little distracted with all the cool rich people stuff.

"You know, my dad works at the school." she pointed out. "But he's not my species, nor do we have the same name. So, good luck finding out who it is." she added. I stuck my tongue out, and she rolled her eyes. "Boys." she huffed.

"So, what should we do with it?" I asked, sliding my backpack off. Huh, I forgot I had that with me. Wait...

"Well, we ought to know what it is." Sven replied. "It's definitely not from here. It's like...archaic."

"It can't be that old," I replied. I extracted he gold disk, and twirled it between my fingers. It hummed, and grew warm in my hands. I yelped, and it fell to the carpeted floor with a loud thunk. Sven laughed, and picked it up from at my feet.

"You never know." Chione said with a thoughtful look."Archaic could mean anywhere between 100 to 1,000 years ago." she added. I rolled my eyes.

"One hundred years ago, we invented anti gravity thingies." I responded. They raised brows at the words 'thingies'. "And a thousand, we could build in space. Archaic usually means like...when they didn't have Internet and stuff."

"That's not what it means." Sven protested. "It just means old fashioned! Then again, the Internet has been around for so long..." he responded. "It's older than my Aunt Wilma."

Chione and I exchanged looks. "What kind of name is Wilma?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I'll tell you if I meet the fossil." he responded. "Anyways, this thing definitely isn't from our time." He held it out for us to look. There it was again, smooth but not sleek, and glowing faintly with the arrows, red, blue, and light gray.

"And I definitely think that whatever this thing is- it's pre-Crater Era." Chione added. I shuddered. Crater Era ended a few years back, when the U.S., France, Russia, Serbia, and Egypt figured they couldn't nuke each other to death. A grand total of fourteen cities were lost in those years and that was just in the U.S., including some big ones here, like Boston, and New York. Seriously, how stubborn could you be? That issue went on longer than most people were alive, and I remember being able to see a couple of the blasts. Man, do shockwaves hurt.

"And look at the glowing," I added. "It looks like there's room for other lights- which means other people must be able to activate it." They frowned at my tidbit of information.

"Anyone might be able to activate more glowing." Sven argued. I rolled my eyes, and looked to him. Huh, I was kind of wishing he'd take his shirt off again.

"Well, we can't show this to just anybody." I said. "This might be a little deep. It's not too often you find a golden discus in the ocean."

"I don't think it's a discus." Chione said, head tilted. We turned to look at her. God, she was an airhead. Thought she had something between her ears, but I guess not. We politely decided not to comment on it.

"So what should we do with it?" I asked. I felt like there was a relieved tension in the air. The question we had all wanted to ask, but had to get past some road blocks. Sven set it down on a couch cushion, and we all stared at it. None of us had any clue.

"Do you think there might be some element about it we're missing?" Chione asked. I shrugged.

"I got an idea." Sven said, grinning. "We took the day off for the opposite of what we're doing now- thinking." We all had a good natured laugh at that, and I plopped down on one of the cushions. It was more comfortable than my bed.

"Cheeses Chione, what do your parents do for a living?" I asked. "This place is freaking awesome."

"Dad's got a school position, and mom's a ruthless lawyer." she said nonchalantly. "Not to mention the quarter million dollar inheritance we got when my grandparents died." she added. I slowly looked at her, and she had settled into a chair adjacent, looking at her nails.

Quarter million?" Sven squeaked. Chione nodded.

"Parents try to spoil me rotten, but I don't want to be." she grumbled. Sven and I exchanged disbelieving glances. I guess it was pretty farfetched for a couple of military kids. She was doing pretty 'normal' for coming from millionaires. "So...who wants lunch?" she asked. Pfft. '_Hey my parents are platinum spoon rich, what kind of food you want?'._

"Want to stop by a fast food place, or a sit down restaurant?" I asked. She shrugged. So did Sven. "Goddammit, it's not a shrug question!" I exclaimed. They snickered in response, and a slight smile tugged the corners of my lips.

"Why not both?" Chione said, grinning. I groaned in irritation. She really knew her way under a guy's skin, I'll give her that.

"I suggest we find a nice cool place indoors." Sven said, chuckling lightly. "I mean, not like Kori cold, but cool enough to where none of us are miserable with the temperature anymore." he added. I smiled, and looked to Chione. The glaceon shrugged, and she began to fiddle with one of the little blade thingies that hung below her ear.

"I'm perfectly alright with that. I'm guessing the neither one of you have cash, so give me a minute, and I'll go grab some," she said, standing up. She darted out of the room, and up the stairs. Sven and I sat in silence for a few minutes while we heard a few crashes and loud thuds come from upstairs. For a second, I was worried Chione invaded someone else's home, but she came running down with a big grin. "Sorry, I couldn't remember where I put it." she said.

Sven and I exchanged a doubtful look, and we were up and out.

After the meal, which was nothing more than a generic Applebee's, we were heading back to Chione's house to rest the day away, and deal with the golden disk later. Unfortunately for us, the disk would have no such thing happen.

As we were walking along the sidewalk, I was tailing behind the two as they were having a heated discussion over when the first Pokemon had appeared. I was pretty bored listening to the conversation, as I have no interest in the history of our genetics. History, not a strong point. Biology? Forget it. But hell, leave it to the two people I'm around to find a way to blend them together. Wasn't it Sven who had said that we played hooky so that we wouldn't have to think?

I'm afraid the tranquility of the situation did not last.

Sven stopped in his tracks, and he sniffed the air a couple of times. He furrowed his brow and sniffed again. "I smell fire." Chione stopped as well, and she sniffed the air. She mimed his words, and they exchanged a concerned glance. I guess it took long enough for the two to get the gears running, because they finally decided to acknowledge the vulpix behind them.

Both the umbreon and the glaceon turned to face me, and their eyes popped like saucers. I immediately figured that I had set myself on fire again, and dismissed it immediately. I slung my backpack off, and the straps turned to ashes under my fingers. The pack fell down, and I expected to hear a thud, or a clang.

Then, a sharp pain struck the center of my back, and I fell forward, too stunned to react.

(A/N:To anyone who's reading, sorry about the delay. I'll try and toss up Chapter 3 soon, preferably tomorrow.

Read, review, above all, enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

I fell forward faster than I could catch myself. I snapped out of the shock about mid-fall,and by the time I reached my hands out to stop my fall, my head had already bounced off the concrete, and I knocked the wind out of myself. I rolled onto my back, and I groaned in pain. My hands went to my forehead, which astonishingly enough, was not bleeding. It hurt like a mother fucker though.

"Really?" Sven snapped.

"He was on fire!" Chione exclaimed. Oh. That explained it. Chione had hit me with something to put out the flames on me. I wasn't accustom to sudden cold; that was probably it.

"He's a goddamn fire type! You know, they're practically immune to the flames? What's the worst that would happen, he'd lose his clothes."  
I sat up, still holding my forehead, and I was just a little bit disoriented.

"That didn't feel very good." I murmured in annoyance. I stood up uneasily, and reached a hand for my back where the pain still lingered. It was cool, and hard. I grumbled, ignited my hand, and melted the ice that was still present. Once that was all said and done, I walked over to my backpack, and kicked it. It crumbled, and I sighed.

"Well, that was...eventful. Wait, what happened to the disc?" I asked. Come to think of it, a hole had been burned where it fell out, but why hadn't any of us heard it hit the ground? Gold, concrete, it was bound to make some noise. So, why hadn't it? I looked back over my shoulder at Sven and Chione, but they just shrugged. I looked back at the ground, hoping at least to see some dent or crack in the concrete, but there was nothing.

"Hell if I know..." Sven said. I looked back up at him, but he just shrugged again. He looked at his wrist, and sighed. "We ought to be heading home. The bell for the end of school rings in about ten minutes, we got to make regular time." We sighed, and quickly split. We met back in the same spot a few minutes later after a hasty wardrobe change, and then we all took a quick run to the front of the school. We waited outside on the sidewalk, just on the side of the wall surrounding the courtyard that surrounded the entrance to campus so that we would not be seen. We also prayed like hell that some parent didn't come by early to surprise us. Come to think of it, just about everybody walked home. The bell finally rang, and we waited until after the flow of students went to a trickle. We all began to walk in the direction of home, and we said our goodbyes.

When I got home, I was in for it. I was in deep shit. Deep, deep, deep shit. I don't know how, but Gray knew. And Kyukon didn't. The looks they gave me when I walked in gave it away.

Kyukon waved with a warm smile, whereas Gray looked at me with a cold, humorless grin that made my heart pound. He never looked so...ominous before. To be honest, it was pretty damn unnerving. I was used to the 'I seriously can't stop smiling because everything is alright' brother I had. This was more the 'I'm going to kill your family in your sleep and do it gleefully' kind of smile.

I steered clear of the kitchen where they were as fast as I could, without looking like I was fleeing the scene of the crime, which to be honest, was pretty damn hard at times. Such as now. I like to think I pulled it off, but I know for a fact that I screwed it up seven ways from Sunday. I scurried to my room once I was out of sight.

Well, I screwed it up. I did it again.

Gray was going to start his punishment again. I just got out of the last one twelve days ago! I paced nervously, thinking about ways that I might prepare myself. It was sort of hard to think I was prepared. I couldn't later up. He could use fire; we all could use fire!  
I remember the first time , I burnt the crotch off of all of his pants and underwear. He was significantly less than pleased, especially when he had to borrow a pair. For now, I'm not going to go into the detail of the punishment, but I had to lay on my stomach to sleep for weeks. Literally, weeks. He has a hell of an arm.

I sat in my room, nervously clicking away on my laptop, writing up nothing in general. Writing was a hobby of mine, and I tended to do it when an emotion was at en extreme, in this case stress. And confusion I guess. The events with the golden disc still had me questioning what the hell was going on with my life. I wondered, WOULD it react to just anybody? Or did we need to be special? Must be the first, no way in hell I'm special.

A few hours passed without event, and I had steamed out about fifteen pages on my document. The story was like an excerpt taken from the middle of a story. Everybody seemed to know what was going on, but should anybody else read it, they would be lost. Anyway, I didn't get much more of my lonely harmonious state. Three sharp raps on my door made me jump, and I gingerly folded my laptop lid, and slid it aside.

I stood, and another three sounded, and they sounded angry at me. I swallowed, and walked over. Upon opening it, Gray was already standing there, in his hand the weapon of choice. He glowered at me, and I took a nervous step back. "Rokon." He addressed, curtly and quietly.

"G-Gray." I stammered. He nodded, and walked forth. I stepped back, and he gingerly closed the door behind him. He shook his head at me disapprovingly, and tossed his weapon aside, which landed on the ground with a heart shattering thump.

"I don't know what you're thinking Ro," he said softly looking down. His cream colored hair fell in front of his eyes, which he brushed aside calmly. "We haven't even been here a week. And you're already cutting class!" I jumped at the last sentence. His volume had suddenly increased.

"How-" I began.

"It doesn't matter how I know Rokon." He snapped at me. "I'm concerned about this. I don't care how much you don't like your school. You have to tough through it, especially if you don't want to be sitting in a shit hole of a home when you're an adult." he growled. I took a step back.

Here I was again, the equivalent of my six year old self, and Gray having inherited my father's stern speech. I was no more than an ignorant child, intaking the wisdom and the lessons that the adults had to offer me. Again, I was at fault, and they were biting my head off over how I shouldn't do what I did. I tended to tune them out, but when it came to people like Gray, and my father, I couldn't bring myself to do it. My heart beat so hard in my chest, my ribcage felt like it was going to shatter at any moment.

"What in the hell do you have to say for yourself?" He growled, arms folded in a disapproving gesture that I knew all too well. I merely shook my head in response. After all, what could I say? I'm sorry? That would get the shit smacked out of me. "That's what I thought." He grouched. "You know what happens now." He added. I swallowed.

I knew all too well what was about to happen.

The rest of the weekend flew by without event, side four doses of Gray's punishment for me. It made getting around a little awkward, because after each time, my pants would irritate my skin. Anyway, I had went out once, but that proved to be a waste of time, since it was storming outside.

On Monday, there was no deviation from the usual schedule, save for Gray getting me up half an hour earlier. He finished in the span of that half hour, and left to get dressed. I got dressed as fast as I could, and left without even grabbing breakfast. As I walked, I had started wishing I had at least grabbed some toast.

I pushed the idea aside, and figured I'd take something out of Chione's backpack. She got packed breakfast. Seriously, who the hell packs breakfast? Anyway, I figured she wouldn't care if a strip of bacon or two was gone. That plan was shot down however, as Chione didn't arrive. It was a little tranquil with just Sven and I walking, but it was also pretty awkward.

"So." He said quietly.

"So." I responded. "My uh...brother found out I didn't go on Friday." I muttered. I heard him laugh quietly.

"What did he do when he found out?" The Umbreon asked. He turned to look at me, and I looked back. His red eyes were large, and lustrous, and they always looked wet, as if he would cry at any moment. They were sort of pretty. I looked away, feeling a light warmth on my cheek.

"None of your damned business." I suggested. Sven chuckled, and pat my back.  
"If I had to guess, your electronics are gone?" he prodded. I shrugged, and looked down at my wrist. On my left wrist, on everyone's really, there was a gray-brown band, with a rubbery texture. I hadn't the slightest clue as to how the fuck they worked, but we used them to do calls. It was weird, but it was stranger holding a slab of plastic to your face to talk to somebody.

I wanted to say that all of the school day passed without event, but that was a big lie. I hated to admit it, but I got into somewhat of a fight, though it was less of a fight, and more of a 'get the shit beat out of me, but make a little come back' sort of thing. I won't really bother with the details, because it's kind of pointless talking about how I ended up in the situation to begin with. Seriously, I can't even breathe wrong at Kori, they hate me there. I've gotten a few positive glances, a few shy ones, but most of them are spiteful and disgusting.

Well, anyway, I was waiting in line for food poisoning, and that was when it started. I felt something on the back of my neck, and I rubbed it habitually. It was all wet. I exhaled slowly, eyes narrowed, and tried to let it go. I willed myself to warm, and the liquid on the back of my neck evaporated. I had hoped that it wouldn't continue, but it did, without relent. I felt the sensation on my neck again, and realized someone was spitting on me. I willed myself to heat further, and it sizzled off my fur. The next one evaporated immediately. Then I felt a push on my back, and I stumbled forward. I bit my lip irritably, and waited for the onslaught to continue.

Unfortunately, it did. A massive weight on my shoulder took hold of me, and I was thrown to the side. I bounced once on my ass, and slid back a foot or so. Well, this sucked. It was the same abomasnow from before, Ray I think his name was. Big, stupid, and a terrible superiority complex. The guy was a douchebag without even having to try, and even the sound of his voice pissed me off, whether he was talking to me or not. It was just the most irking thing I had ever heard, and being all around the country, I had heard some really annoying shit.

"What've we here?" he asked in a mocking formal voice. I growled, a quiet feral growl, hoping he'd realize that despite his size, the fucker was still at the disadvantage. Regardless of my warning, he advanced on me, hands clenched into fists. "Oh, you made me look like a fool on Thursday, trust me. Outrunning me? How in the world did you manage that one?"

"You don't need me to make you look like a fool." I muttered.

"Exactly." he responded, as if I was supporting him. I knit my eyebrows together upon realizing he didn't realize that I had just insulted him. I imagined him inside an industrial sized dunce cap, making unintelligible noises, and walking around as if he had a disease in his legs. I giggled. And that brought me back to reality. "You think it's funny!" he hissed at me, stepping closer. He leaned down, and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, and lifted me up off the ground. Which didn't seem like it was really hard for him. The bastard was huge, let me tell you.

Anyway, Ray hurled me back down on the ground, and I grunted, more out of shock than in pain. I scooted backward along the tile, attempting to get away from him, which didn't do me too well. I backed into a _fucking wall_. I could have sworn to god that some little elves came down and built in the past ten seconds. It was annoying to think that I hadn't seen it. I forced myself to my feet, and put my hands up in a defensive position. I didn't know how fight. I tried to convince Kyukon to let me take some sort of martial art, but he wasn't for it. A solid swing to my jaw sent me sprawling, and left me pretty dizzy. I was small, he was a goliath, I wasn't going to last very long if I tried to keep this one up.

Face. Face. Side. Stomach. Belly. Chest. I was victim to a barrage of punches, unending, unmerciful, and all without meaning. I hated it. I'd been a punching bag a few times, but I tended to legitimately piss people off. Ray was hitting me for the hell of it. God, I thought. Where in the hell was Sven when I needed him? He went down a few bars in my mind, and I made it a note to be a bit of an ass to him next time I saw him around.

Well, on one particular punch, I slumped against the wall, and found myself on all fours, the abomasnow standing over me ominously. I lied flat on my belly, and pushed off the wall, sliding along the tile. I stood up, and just about as I did so, another hit to my chest sent me flat onto my back. I groaned, and sat up. Ugh, I probably had a concussion. Well, at this point, my instinct told my free will to sit tight, and let it work. I slid back along the tile using my feet, and rolled backwards, propping myself up on my feet in a rather ungraceful movement. My hands itched painfully, and they ignited. Here, I had noticed that a crowed had gathered around us. How had I not noticed it? Forty, fifty, maybe sixty students in a circle, cheering, jeering, shouting, chanting.

I ran forward at Ray, which genuinely surprised him. He hesitated, and I used my momentum to send my hand into his chest, which resulted in him stumbling back into the wall, batting at his smoldering shirt. "How does it feel!" I shouted. The energy of the flames gathered in my hand, and I threw an apple sized fireball at his head. He ducked, and it dispersed harmlessly, save for a faint burning smell.

I didn't let up. Every throw only felt better and better as I did it, and I became oblivious to my surroundings. Right now, it was just me and this prick, and despite my disadvantage at size, I had the advantage in element, and I was winning for once. It blinded me. Not just the sense of victory, but the rage that had been built up in me for so long, I only had so many chances to rid myself of any anger, mostly a result of my family issues. It took me a while to realize what was wrong with the scene, and for a second, and a second only, I was mortified.

Ray was cowering against the wall, singed and blackened by the heat, and there were scorch marks on the wall, and the paint curled up the walls, and melted. The cheering had ceased, replaced by looks of disgust, awe, exuberance, and a whole other multitude of emotions. Some people were scared it seemed. Some thought that I was no better than the Abomasow, who was now nothing. And some were flat out happy to see me kicking some ass. That moment of clarity solidified, and fled to the back of my mind, and I went on lobbing the balls of flame.

He didn't deserve mercy. He was a pointless, worthless, asshole bully, who went around preying on the weak just to feel good about himself. People like that made me sick to my stomach. And all that aside, where was _my _mercy? The only solace I had was around my brothers, and even they made me feel like nothing was right. Grey was simply underdeveloped; he had refused to grow up, and as a result, Kyukon had matured entirely too fast. I can't speak with either of them without feeling like I'm talking to a brick wall sometimes. Grey laughs in my face, Kyukon takes damn near everything too serious. Where was my mercy?

Long story short, I exhausted myself, sent Ray to the hospital with second degree burns, and managed to earn myself the nickname 'Standing'. Some students got in my face and scolded me, some congratulated me, and asked if I was okay, and the majority remained indifferent, walking away as if the travesty had not transpired. I was somewhat pleased with the outcome, and I rode out on the shoulders of six ice types. It was strange, being the hero. Even the faculty and staff looked at me with a glint of admiration. I guess he didn't cause hell to just the students. Even the principle tried her best not to smile. But, she did tell me that I'd have a three day in school suspension, effective immediately.

I spent the remainder of that day in the office, with an icepack on my head(it felt good, and at the same time it felt like hell.), and a small grin on my face. I could only pray to hell that the principle had mercy enough not to call home. Then I would have to deal with Grey's wrath(shudder), and Kyukon's wrath(he had the worst temper in the family).

On the way home, it was all that plagued my mind. You'd think that my mind would be on that golden disk, but it wasn't. I had won a fight, I had actually won a fight. Sure, the fight wasn't necessarily fair, but we each had our own advantages and disadvantages. Technically, the only person at the school I didn't have a one up on was Sven. A goofy delirious grin crossed my face as I walked home, and Sven prodded me for the details, which I gave up with no hassle.

He pat me on the head, wished me luck, and then sent me on my way. And you know what? I'd like to say that everything went my way after that. I approached my door, and slid in the key to open it up. And I threw open the door, with a loud shout to announce my arrival. And I went inside, oblivious to my surroundings. But what I saw when I walked in only came into my comprehension after a few minutes.

Gray and Kyukon were nowhere to be seen, or heard even. And around me? Around me, everything was packed neatly in cardboard boxes.

"Rokon?"


	4. Chapter 4

My name was said, and my ears twitched, instantaneously swiveling to the source of the noise. My heart was pounding in my chest before I could process whose voice is was. It was very familiar, I couldn't place my finger on where. I turned around, and then my heart did a somersault. I unintentionally jumped into the air with an effeminate squeal.

Not sure what she was doing in my house, but I didn't care! I stood near a sandslash girl, wearing plain white clothes that hugged her lithe form, and her hair was a sandy golden color, long pulled into bangs over her right eye, and the remainder in a ponytail that ran down her back, and who was grimacing. I didn't see why she didn't smile. I launched myself at her excitedly, but passed through her as if she was naught but air. I ran straight into the wall behind her, grunting as my body smushed itself, and then fell backward onto the hard tile floor.

I wasn't sure how to feel about it.

Immediately, a voice in the back of my had screamed that this was related to the golden disk that was currently at Chione's place. I scrambled to my feet, and looked back at the sandslash, my eyes wide. She turned to face me, and then I noticed something more.

She was slightly translucent, like a thick ghost. I also noticed the marks. Burns, from the reddening of skin to the blackening of crispy flesh. Most of her hair was burnt off. And then I realized her appearance was generally worsening. Blood seeped steadily from all over her body, and then bandages appeared. The crimson liquid crawled through, and saturated them. She turned a sickly green, and her hair fell out completely.

"Help...me..." She whispered. My stomach lurched in disgust. The apparition fell to her knees, and looked up at me with a pitiful expression. She reached a sharp finger down, and carved into the tile a six letter word.

And bile rose in my throat as I put the pieces together.

Boston.

About eight years ago, I lived there. It was an alright place, and at the time, the city was practically empty. The only others were the few brave, crazy, or poor enough to have to stay, and then us, the military brats. It was safe to say that a big city like it wasn't the safest of places to be. The whole Crater thing was calming down, but it was still heated enough for buttons to be pressed.

By the time we left, the package was on its way.

We had driven for an hour, a long forlorn hour of watching the city face into the distance before a blinding flash of light followed by a massive ball of flame swallowed the city forever. Kyukon stomped on the brakes, and I was thrown back, my view interrupted.

The ensuing shockwaves knocked out all of the windows, and peppered us with a sharp spray. I couldn't bring myself to look at this mushroom cloud as Kyukon sped away at the speed of fear.

I guess that I must have dozed off, or gone into a trance, because when I came to my senses, it was dark out. I found that I was laying on the floor, over the carving in the tile with the city's name. There was a large soft blanket over me, and a part of it was folded to go beneath my head so as to resemble a pillow. I rolled of my side and onto my back, and stared up at the ceiling that I could hardly see dejectedly. I sighed, and placed a hand on my face with a small yawn. I had been so immersed in my erories that I had actually begun to relive them without realizing it. I raised my right wrist to hover over my eyes, and the faint blue glow of the timepiece immediately came into effect, displaying the time in white digits.

A grueling hour, 4:23 AM. I sighed, and no longer wished to deal with the trivial matters of the day, and then I rolled back onto my side, allowed my eyelids to fall, and let sleep take me willingly this time.

The next day, I didn't go to school. I didn't cut class again, when I woke up, I felt more sick then when I went down with the flu. As I was getting ready, I vomited several times before my brothers began to insist that I lie down and not do much today. Gray opted to stay home and take care of me- and much to both mine and his surprises, Kyukon let it slide, saying that I could definitely use some company. He called in saying Gray was sick as well, and had him stay with me. He waved goodbye, leaving just Gray and I to do nothing.

"Hey, Gray?" I asked when Kyukon was out. He turned to me with an equally inquisive look, to answer a question with a question. "How come you're in school- but brother's not, and working? You guys are twins after all." Gray furrowed his brow as if to think, and then he sighed softly.

"You didn't put two and two together?" he asked me, sounding thoroughly surprised with my question. "Ky's a dropout." he said with incredible nonchalance. My jaw damn near hit the ground when I heard that. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but I now i wondered, why didn't Gray drop out instead of Kyukon? Gray's nothing close to a straigth A student, but I know for a fact that Ky was taking college classes in his junior year, and passing them with flying colors.

"Oh." was all I could say, my voice now devoid of emotion. I lazily shuffled over to and plopped down on the couch, staring at the wall opposite, which was a powered off television. Gray took it on him to sit down next to me, and reached for the remote. He stopped himself, and sighed, then looked at me. I didn't really want to acknowledge him. I felt...upset, but I wasn't entirely sure why. I mean, as far as I knew, it was probably Kyukon's choice. My brothers were stubborn and prideful as all living hell, but Kyukon had a lot more to back him up than Gray did.

"I know that it's...not exactly something you'd like to hear." he said to me, which made me want to hit him. "But it had to happen. I mean...you're probably thinking that I should have been the one to man up and get a job, right?" he asked me. I nodded. Well, there was something I tended to underestimate- and that was how well he could read someone. Maybe I was predictable? "Well, Kyukon had already- by technicalities- graduated. Even if he doesn't participate in his senior year- he could get a better job then I could."

"So...? It wouldn't matter." I replied. "Hardly passing and not at all doesn't mean a thing to most employers." I huffed. I guessed that in some cases, such was the case. But what did I know? I cared nothing for getting a job. As far as I was concerned, my main priority was getting through the ninth grade. For a second, my words hushed my brother, and I allowed myself the delusion that I had already won. And then he spoke once more.

"I guess. But...think. Most, not all. Do you think that he's laid back enough to go for just _any _job?" I shook my head. He had a fair point though. When it came to more serious things, Kyukon was so uptight, you could feed him coal, and he'd shit a diamond. I guess that I would be that way too if I busted my ass just as much as he did. "That's right. He's...taken on something that pays a little more. He won't say what, and he damn near bashed my head in when he found out that I was following him." I chuckled.

"You should have thought of that." I pointed out. "You know we're all short tempered. 'Specially you."

"Yeah, and you're just short." he replied. I frowned distastefully. How tall was I? 5'1? I shoved my elbow into his side, and he grunted. We laughed, and kept the mood light by turning the television on. We scrolled through the channels, not really deciding on anything the whole time, and we probably ran through every channel at least thrice before he stopped on some random movie. We stayed silent, and we stood this way for the better part of the next five hours, only getting up to use the bathroom, or in my case, regurgitate whatever I thought I could hold down.

Nothing really interesting happened for the rest of the day. Well, that is up until I was supposed to be turning it in for the night. I had started to feel better after the sun had set, and I had a horrible suspicious that my sickness was hardly over, but I didn't take much time to think about that, because I was too tired to. There are some things that I shouldn't have known, and I'm not sure if this discovery had fit within the criteria for such. Yeah, that night was probably one of the most illuminating nights in my life. Let me tell you, it certainly explained quite a few things as I had spectated from the corner. I guess I can't say that it completely surprised me either, but what I saw was exactly what I had had in mind for that night.

So, let's see, where do I begin? Well, I guess Gray's eagerness is a good place to start. He made sure I was tucked away in bed that night, taking extra care to get me another blanket in case I started to feel worse, and shut my blinds to keep it perfectly dark in there, though I guess if I ever wanted a light, I could set my hands on fire. Anyways, he took time doing all the things he needed before I would be nodding off, and to be perfectly truthful, I was exhausted. Sickness seemed to take its toll- given the fact that it was not even 7 PM yet, and I was ready to be out like a bulb.

My brother kissed my forehead, and mumbled goodnight, and instead of walking out, he strut, like he was in a hurry, but didn't want to run. I guess I wouldn't have found it questionable under any other circumstance, but given the fact that my room wasn't very large, and could probably be cleared in a couple of steps, I wasn't particularly thinking that he left something on in the kitchen. I decided to shrug that off, and sleep. I needed it.

The following morning, my optimisms of feeling better were thrown out of the window, and into a massive incinerator. I was cold, and my head was pounding, there was a metallic taste in my mouth, and my stomach was gurgling rather ominously. I noted that my alarm didn't go off; Gray must have switched it off when I wasn't looking, or was alseep. Either that, or I was awake earlier than usual. I rolled over onto my side, and stared at my door from where I lied, expecting it to open at any given moment.

Any given moment took around twenty minutes, twenty very calm and peaceful minutes, where I was close to falling back to sleep, the warmth of my body and the big fluffy blanket keeping it in was more than dragging me back; it tied a chain around me, and tossed a massive boulders with the chain attached to it, and was going to, without a doubt, tear me under once and for all.

I was close to falling asleep. Oh, how this could have been avoided.

Gray stepped in, opening the door rather noisily, but he snuck in with an unearthly grace that I didn't know Gray of all people could possess. My eyelids were no longer heavy, and no yawns threatened to come from my mouth. I figured it was evident that I wasn't awake, but I turned my head to face the ninetales just in case he was a bit too dull. "Good morning, Rokon." he said to me. I nodded in acknowledgement. "You have a friend who asked about you...he said you took a hell of a hit on friday, and he's fairly worried."

My hand went to my head, and I rubbed the spot that had hit the concrete after I fell forward from Chione's less than necessary ice attack while I was on fire. I hadn't thought to put a bit of heat on it, nor check to see if it had swollen, but yup, I had a a hell of a knot. It was surprisingly sore and tender to the touch; though I figured that after four days it wouldnt hurt so bad. "The umbreon?" I asked. Gray nodded. "Let him in." Gray then smirked at me. "What?" I asked, sitting up slowly from my position in the bed. He shook his head at me.

"Nothing," he responded, with a short roll of his eyes. "We're gonna need you to get up. Kyukon is being pretty adamant about not letting him in, see, Rocket Butt is still pretty mad about what I did with the boxes on friday." he replied. I blinked. All friday, all of the weekend, all of yesterday, andI had totally blanked about the empty room with all the packed up stuff. I grinned, and swing my legs over the edge of the bed.

"Gray," I said as I made to stand. "You're such a pain in the-" Well, my fun was cut a little short as nausea came in like a bitch and hit me with diziness. I stumbled on step, and damn near hit my head on the edge of my desk before Gray caught me. I muttered a quiet thanks to him, and he helped me stand by sliding a hand over my shoulder, and having me lean on him. Despite me having fur, the air of outside of the embrace of my blanket bit me like a very bitter cold wind.

It felt like an odyssey just getting down the stairs, and it was an endurance trial getting down them. And then, I began my trek to the door, and I heard Kyukon protesting to seemingly nobody in particular that no others should enter. I looked over my shoulder at the near empty room as we approached the door, and huffed with a laugh. "Looks clean to me," I commented, loud enough for the eldest to hear. Kyukon turned around, and gave me an uneasy grin.

"Ah, there you are, Ro...come on, have a word with your friend here." he said, seeming prettty happy to get out of he way. I chuckled. Strange, Ky was always so willing to meet new people in almost any circumstance. Well, then he stepped out of the way, and I found myself as articulate as a case of number 27.

For whatever glorious reason, Sven was dressed up this morning, and if I could say so myself, he looked rather dashing. I guess under another personality I would have chastised myself, but I didn't have any qualms, and I was generally pretty shameless about checking guys out. Wearing black slacks that were almost as dark as his soft looking fur, and a shirt that was too white to be real, then a jacket that seemed to fit rather nice on him. He sort of reminded me of those schoolboys from Japan. His big ears were pulled back, and held in place by a hairtie. I blinked.

"Uh...what's...the occasion?" I asked, trying to find the right words to use. I wondered if this was what other dudes felt when they looked at a girl's chest. Sven chuckled, and looked down at himself.

"Just a little family thing...that's not what I'm here for. How ya feelin'? You got a heck of a whack on your head the other day." he asked, leaning toward my inquisitively. I shrugged, even though I could have said without any difficulty at all that I felt like shit, and was afraid I was gonna start puking.

"I could be better...you know...just sick..."

"Y'know, the teachers are gonna be a little suspicious. Three days in a row. I actually brought you a little something from school." he responded, and I noted that his arms were folded behind his back. And, he presented to my a big bundle of papers. Fuck. He got my homework. I made a half hearted attempt at a smile for him. I mumbled a little thanks, and he laughed. "No need to thank me," he responded. "I know you're pissed at me for it."

I reached my hands out and took it from him with no further complaints. We converesed about nothing in general for the next few minutes, before he looked at his watch and remembered that he had school that morning. I waved goodbye, and he strut off and a swift pace. I turned back around, and Kyukon seemed to be fumingl; probably over the very fact that Sven had seen the inside of the house, because he didn't seem to be angry and Gray, nor I.

Kyukon later left for work, again leaving just Gray and I. Funny, I was beginning to think that Gray had actually begun to comed own with something, and would have a legitimate excuse not to go to school. His walk was sort of funny, he had bags under his eyes. Or maybe he just did something weird the night before. and As I was shuffling into the living room, I was surprised with a big blanket to go around my shoulders. I then felt an arm do the same. "You know, that boy is rather handsome." Gray said to me. "I'll bet that you've already got a crush on him."

I felt my cheeks warm slightly, and I reached a hand up to swat him on the back of his head. Not entirely helpful given the fact that he was a full foot taller than me. I managed to swipe a few fingers. "No, I don't." I responded- though I immediately admitted defeat when I realized how defensive my tone sounded. Gray laughed, and unhooked his arm. He shoved me onto the couch, and I yelped aloud. He flopped down next to me, and poked my side playfully.

I grumbled something to him, which came out as half a giggle, and I folded my arms over my chest as he began to laugh. It was sorta hard to be pouty, as it was becoming increasingly more difficult not to laugh as Gray poked me repeatedly. Sooner or later, I gave in, and I allowed Gray to resume poking me while I writhed and wiggled arund, trying to ignroe it and focus on the television.

An excruciatingly poke filled seven and a half hours later, there was another knock on the door. Gray took the libery of answering it, and I flopped on my side, pulling the blanket over me so that I was a big vulpix burrito whose sides hurt from a constant barrage of pokes, and a whole lot of laughing. Sven had stopped by, and this time he brought Chione with him. Gray came back into the room, and he grabbed my by the feet, and dragged me off of the couch. I didn't really protest to it, it was just less energy to be wasted doing stupid stuff like walking.

He laid me sideways in front of the door, and both the umbreon and the glaceon looked at me with a similiar look that may as well have spelled 'are you fucking kidding me?' As I found, Chione spoke her mind often. Right then was no exception. I chuckled, and wiggled to face the two better.

"Right, well..." Sven continued. "We have something to show you. We couldn't figure out what it meant...we couldn't quite figure it out, and we thought you might know." he said. I sat up, slowly but surely, and gagged a little. I still wasn't feeling any better. I looked over my shoulder at Gray, who was wearing a curious look. I looked back at my friends.

"We're not sure...it's a _golden_ opportunity, Rokon." Chione added. My eyes widened. I was a little bit hurt that they didn't stop by to say hello, and maybe bring me some soup, but I guess this took priority. I looked over my shoulder at Gray, who was wearing a very curious look. I t was obvious enough that I knew what they were talking about, and I wondered if I could trust Gray with it. I felt a tad quilty thinking of it, though I knew I could trust him with most anything. On the other hand, he told Kyukon about most everything he needed to. My bum throbbed sorely as if to remind me of that rule. I looked back to Chione and Sven, and nodded. Gray could know._  
_

And ten minutes later, Gray was gawking at our enigmatic treasure, and I had a painful, though improbable hunch. We set it on the kitchen table, though not after Gray adamntly insited that we put a tablemat underneath it. I guess that he didn't want arcane pieces of gold found in the ocean to be on the table. I guess that it was unsanitary.

Anyways, looking at the disc again, I was a little more than confused. Another line had formed, this one golden brown, however, it wasn't like the others. It wasn't glowing, and it had put itself on the other side of mine. The gold that had been underneath suddenly looked tarnished, as if it had taken hundreds more years of wear and tear. I frowned. "It...could be..." I began. I shook my head.

I felt their eyes turn to me, even as I shut my own, and tilted my head down at the table. "Could be...?" Sven trailed off. I suddenly wished that I had not opened my mouth. I snuck a glance at the disc again, which beckoned for my attention. Quite literally, it was very strange. I felt a tug on my chest, and I suddenly felt like I should place my hand on it, absorb its warmth, and glide my palm over it, making sure to take in and remember the texture, every last little thing about it. I was curious what would happen if I were to give in to the want.

I allowed myself.

My hand brushed the disc, and I felt an unnatural warmth wash through me, and for a second, I found myself releived of the multiple ailments that were curretnly plauging me. It was serene. I felt the blow of a cold wind, though I remained to be warm. With my eyes still clothed, I could only think how stupid I must have looked to the others. But much to my surprise, when I opened my eyes, I was not in the presence of incredulous looks, but rather ones of shock. I found that I was no longer in my home. I was sitting on asphalt. And I stared with awe as my gaze drifted around to hte mutiple buildings that were jutting up into te sky, all being much higher than that of where we were. We were no longer on the west coast.

"Gray..." I said aloud, and I realized from my tone just how afraid I was. I was clueless. I began to scrape for an explanation, and I felt a pair of hands on my shoulder. Upon tilting my head upward, I found Gray was leaning over me with a giddy smile. I found that it wasn't really appropriate for the situation. I decided to assume that they had been aware of the fact that we were not home longer than I was. After all, I went on a small little mind trip.

I noted that I still didn't feel sick, though I had a terrible suspicion that it wold come back if I didn't do..something. But, what? "What the hell are you smiling about?"  
I queried. "In case you didn't notice-" Gray cut me off with an exicted laugh. With no effort whatsoever, he lifted me off of with little to no effort whatsoever.

"Rokon! You will not believe this." he said, giving me a shake. I blinked, and I peered past him, hoping ofr a little bit of insight, and I found that Sven adn Chione were standing behind him equally broad smiles. I was confused.

"Just how long was I out?" I queried, and I felt my vulpine ears pressing flat against my skull, the way they would do when I got aggravated.

"A few hours." Sven called. "Man, this disc thing is great? You know where we are, right? Although, I guess that a better question would be-"

"When." Gray interrupted, and he shook me harder, as if I har any possible way of forgetting I was still dangling above the ground, stuck in his grasp. It really wasn't fair that he and Kyukon ended up so tall, and I was literally the shortest person wherever I went. I've met some eight year olds taller than me, and let me tell you, there's nothing to cripple your ego like that.

"When?" I repeated.

"Yes! We went back! We're in..." Gray trailed off, and his smile fell. And then my eyes widened as all the pieces clicked together. The disc took up back. And the disc took us away. But this time was dangerous. I gulped. If I was right, the _day _was dangerous, and there was no possible way we could stay here. And the question remained, how would we get home? Gray set me down, his look steadily getting worse, and I figured that the same realization had dawned on him. The exact same one. He began to mumble unsteadily, and his body began to shake, as if he had spent an entire winter day outside.

Sven and Chione appeared confused as I looked past my brother, and I felt my own look of worry affect them from where I stood. "We're in...where? What?" Chione asked.

"We're back here." I muttered. "This city, this time, this day. We have to go, or else we won't survive." I responded, shaking my head side to side as fast I could. Then, it all _really_ fell down on me, the realization of what must be happening. I was failing to comprehend the severity of it, and I was failing to comprehend the circumstance in which we had arrived in this city.

And my brother and I were stared at as we spoke with cryptic words, adamantly refusing to speak the solid truth aloud, for we feared that it may be the case.

(A/N: Hey you guys, anyone who's reading...Well, I'm really sorry that I haven't updated as of late, but whoo, I have had my hands full with a LOT. Even after school got out, I had summer school, so it wasn't like it was exactly fine, dandy, easy. Not to mention writer's block, other stories, actual prior commitments and priorites, the time to write and edit and plan this has been scarce. This may and likely will be the case in the future, so I apologize in advance.

Also, I hope you guys liked this chapter! I know that this is sort of random, and it seems like this came out of nowhere, but I promise you guys all a really nice explanation, sooner or later.

In the meantime, thanks to my unofficial beta, Mr.001 for reading through. I love the guy, he's been with me since my earliest days on the site.

Read, review, and above all, enjoy!

-TEK


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